Shining
by OrpheliaCasonate
Summary: Annie, Mesi and Gina's village has been destroyed. But why? And who, for that matter? Could this be part of something else? - JayxNya, ColexOC, KaixOC, ZanexOC. It is a bit weird, this.
1. Chapter 1 - Anemone's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ninjago!**

**I hope you like this, its not very original, I know, but I needed to do it for my own sanity. Don't ask.**

* * *

I stared hard at the wall, as if it was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen.

"WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN, YOUNG LADY?" My dad was shouting to my twin sister, Mesi, downstairs. I groaned and lay back on my bed, upon which I was sitting. They had begun their daily shouting match. Now don't get me wrong, I love them both very much. They are my favourite people in the world, but they both have very short tempers. I usually have to split them up, most nights.

Mesi is 40 seconds younger than me, though everyone thinks she is the older one. We aren't identical, not much anyway. Well, I suppose our faces are of the exact same shape, size, etc, so much that if you shaved our hair off, and if we closed our eyes, you couldn't tell us apart. That's where the similarities between us end. Mesi is tall, elegant and ridiculously flexible; I'm a midget. Her hair is thick, reddy-brown, chin-length and curly; mine is, well, not thin, but not thick either, kinda in the middle, mousy-coloured, waist-length and straight, with flicks at the bottom. My nose is all freckled, and I have glasses; her face is flawless even without make-up. Her eyes are sky-blue, and they flash when she's angry, and sparkle when she's happy or excited. Mine are just brown.

Personality-wise, we're very different as well. Mesi, she inherited our dad's quick-temper and wit, and our mum's creativity. I inherited Dad's tendency to worry about other people too much, but Mum's calmness and forgetfulness. I got her diplomacy and people skills, as well. Mesi goes out with her friends all the time, gets in trouble at school all the time, wears too much make-up, dyes her hair various colours every week and doesn't own a single item of shop-bought clothing. I go to my best friend Gina's house after school, have all Bs and As at school, wear fairly nice, normal clothing, and have a penpal in France. Mesi's the rainbow, but I'm just beige.

Mum died when we were 4, so I can remember her, just. Like I said, I'm not good at memory. Since then, Dad has been raising us. He's a marvellous dad. We both love him to pieces, and her loves us just the same. He's just worries too much about us, that's why Mesi and he always end up arguing.

Speaking of them arguing, I jumped down from the top bunk on which I sleep, and padded downstairs to where the battle was taking place. They were in the kitchen.

"I TOLD YOU TO BE BACK AT TEN O'CLOCK!" Dad was shouting.  
"I CAME IN AT TEN OH ONE!"  
"ANYTHING could have happened in that one minute! You could been attacked, kidnapped, killed!"  
"But-" Mesi began. I cut her off.  
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" I shouted at them, "Mesi, you were late. Tell Dad you are sorry." She mumbled something that sounded like 'porridge'. "Sorry, say again, I didn't quite catch that," I said, putting a hand behind my ear.  
"Ok, Dad, I'm sorry, I should have been back earlier," she said, not looking up from the floor.  
"That's better," I said approvingly, "Now, Dad, you overreacted. She was one minute, not half an hour like normal, apologise to her please." Mesi had been known to come in much much later than ten oh one.  
"I am sorry, Mesi."  
"Good, now, can I go to bed without you causing another war?" I asked.  
"Yes, goodnight sweetheart," Dad said, and kissed me on my forehead.  
"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too," Mesi agreed, "'Night Dad."  
"'Night Honey," he called as we walked up the stairs.

Later, I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. My head was rattling it had so much energy. I just couldn't sleep. This was strange for me, as I am normally a good sleeper. However, there was something ominous about the heaviness of tonight's atmosphere that made me uneasy.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar jolt at the back of my mind. "Mesi..." I called out.  
"Annie! You felt it too!" she replied.  
"Yeah, we've got to get up and warn everyone, quickly!" I said, scrambling out of bed.

Ever since our mother died, Mesi and I have been able to sense when some elemental disaster will occur. From the length and intensity of a jolt that we feel in our mind, we can tell how long it will be until the crisis begins, and how far away from us it will be. This particular jolt scared us immensely, because it was short and sharp, meaning that the catastrophe is not far away, and will happen quite soon.

The village in which we live is quite small, so it didn't take long to get everyone up and out. Everyone was standing on the village green, scared, cold and anxious. They were used to this happening. Normally it was an earthquake, or at certain times of year, a flood, but there was no precise way of telling what it could be. I had sent Gina out with a group of other villagers to scout around the village and to come back if they saw anything. Gina is very VERY fast, and she had selected the elitest athletes we have to go with her, so I didn't doubt that they would get back before the impact hit us.

Gina has been my best friend forever. She's like another sister to us. Our houses back onto each other, and she lives with her mum. Her dad died with her older brother at around the same time as our mum. Gina is very hyper and sunny all the time, but when she gets sad, it's infectious, and everyone else is sad too. She has shoulder length blond hair, which she wears up in a ponytail most of the time, and has these amazingly green eyes that change shade according to her mood. She's very sporty, and can eat as much junk food as she likes, and never ever get any fatter. She's just a bit taller than Mesi, so when I'm with the two of them, I feel like a dwarf.

Anyway, where was? Oh, yes, there. Well, Mesi and I were trying to reassure everybody, and keep everyone calm, when Gina and her group came running.  
"IT'S FIRE!" she screamed at me. I quickly told my father, who was the head-firefighter, and him and his colleagues scrambled to their equipment. The subsequently began handing it out to everybody. Our village was too small to have a proper fire station and engine, but it was too far away from anywhere else to not have one. Instead, there was a small band of volunteers that would go into action is there ever was a fire. Everybody in the village would help too, thats just the way it worked.

Meanwhile, Gina was telling me more about the fire.  
"It was HUGE!" she said excitedly, "It had already consumed a couple of streets by the time we went out of view!"  
"Oh, dear," I said, worried, "This is gonna be hard!"  
"The strangest thing was, it was purple!" she exclaimed in disbelief of her own words. I scrunched up my nose, as I always did when I was confused.  
"It can't be natural then," I said. Gina nodded in agreement. "Anyway, we can ponder over this later, we've got a fire to fight!"

Everyone else had begun to disperse. Gina, Mesi and myself went down one street. We were armed with buckets and hoses. There were plenty of taps along the streets, they were emergency water supplies for droughts in summer. When we reached the fire, I stood staring at it. It was monstrous! Several houses were already burnt beyond recognition. Mesi tugged at me.  
"Come on, Annie!" she shouted at me over the roar of the flames. I hooked up my hose, at shot it at the fire. Nothing happened. Sure, water came out, but as soon as it hit the fire, it just disappeared. I tried again - still nothing.

I looked over to the others, who were having the same problems.  
"It's not working!" I shouted over to them. They shook their heads to indicate they agreed.  
"Let's go and find some others!" Mesi suggested. We walked into the next street. Here, our dad and Gina's mum were fighting the flames. Dad was very close to the flames.  
"Dad! Watch out!" Mesi shouted. He turned to look at us, just as the flames overtook him.  
"DAD!" we screamed. But it was too late. He was gone.

I started crying, desperately, and begging him to be brought back. Mesi, however, was quivering. I turned to stare at her: she was rising off the ground!  
"Mesi! What are you doing?" I shouted to her. She didn't respond to me.

Her eyes were burning brighter blue than I had ever seen them. Her hair was rising up like it was static. She raised her arms so they were parallel with the ground, her palms facing the fire. Suddenly, bright blue water shot out of her hands, and as soon as it touched the flames, they all disappeared. Mesi gently floated down and her eyes returned to normal.  
"What just happened?" I asked her.  
"I have absolutely no idea," she replied.  
"Do you think you could do it again, to get rid of the rest of the flames?" On other streets, the fire was still raging. Mesi held her arms up and stretched out her fingers. She then shook her head.  
"I'm sorry, I think it was a thing of the moment, I had to destroy thing that, well, you know what it did." I nodded. It still hadn't quite sunk in that dad was dead.

The four of us walked into the next street. Here, the water was starting to affect the fire, it was a lot more smoky than earlier. People were still fighting, but every so often they were swallowed up in the fire. There weren't many left. 5 or 6 of us were still alive. I began to think that we wouldn't get out of this alive.

Suddenly, four people wearing coloured costumes dropped out of the sky. Once they had landed, I saw they were ninjas. There was one in red, one in black, one in blue and one in white. the one in black shouted out.  
"Zane, do your thing!"  
The one in white, who I presume was Zane, shot a white beam at the flames. A section turned into ice, then melted away. We advanced at began fighting the rest of the fire. Two more people were swallowed up. Now it was just Mesi, Gina, Gina's mum, the ninjas and me left. Just then, the wind changed.

Smoke blew right in my face. I have never been able to stand smoke. Whenever it gets into my lungs, I pass out...

I crumpled to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2 - Kai's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ninjago, as much as I wish I did**

**This Chapter is in Kai's POV, by the way**

* * *

I sat in between Cole and Jay as they battled each other on the video game. Jay was winning.  
"Ha! Take that! And that!" he said as Cole's lives went down.  
"This isn't fair!" Cole whined, "You got extra practice on that day when I had to go and get tea for Sensei."  
"Or, I'm just better than you."  
"Yeah, right," Cole said sarcastically.

Just then, Nya came into the room.  
"Hey, Nya," I smiled at her.  
"Hey, guys," she smiled back. Suddenly, Jay started shaking and sweating. Cole saw his chance and immediately began pummeling him. Nya, not noticing Jay's sudden nervousness, perched herself on the arm of the chair closest to him. Then a voice-over on the game announced "Cole Wins."  
"Ha!" he said, turning to face Jay, "Told you I was better than you!"  
"You're not, I was just," Jay glanced at Nya cautiously, "distracted. Anyway, I was winning for most of the game."  
"What distracted you, Jay?" Nya asked him.  
"Nothing!" he shouted, a bit too quickly. I rolled my eyes.  
"You did, Nya," Cole answered her.  
"But why?" she asked, frowning, "What's wrong with me?"  
"Nothing's wrong with you," Cole continued, "It's just that Jay gets nervous when you're around him, because he-" Jay smacked his hand over Cole's mouth.  
"Because I remember last time you came in when we were playing, when Lloyd was in Jamonakai village," he grinned nervously at her.  
"Oh, right," Nya said, "Well, this time, nothing bad's happened, I just came to tell you dinner's ready." We all rushed into the dining room.

When we were there, Sensei Wu and Lloyd were already sat down. Zane was serving them.  
"Finally, you came," he said. Cole and I grinned at each other, then sat either side of Lloyd, so that Nya and Jay would have to sit next to each other. They both blushed, Jay tomato red, Nya more raspberry coloured. Neither of them spoke much throughout dinner, whereas the rest of us were laughing and talking like normal.

Later on, when we were all in bed, I couldn't sleep. The others were all fast off, Cole was even snoring a bit. But I couldn't get comfy. I stopped wriggling and gave up, staring at Jay's bunk above me. Suddenly, I saw a flash of purple from the window. I sat up and looked out properly. Below us was a small village, half of which was covered in huge purple fire.

I slid out of bed, and changed into my ninja gear. Then I stopped. It wouldn't be sensible to go anywhere without telling anybody. If they woke up and didn't know where I was, then all hell would break loose. I decided to wake Cole and tell him where I was going.  
"Cole..." I whispered, shaking him lightly.  
"Whaisi?" he slurred, opening his eyes slightly.  
"I'm going down to the village below, because its on fire, and it looks like they need help." Suddenly, Cole was sitting bolt upright, looking at me as if I was insane.  
"Kai, we've been through this before: we are a team. If one of us goes, we all go," he jumped down from his bunk, "and besides, it's not like you could do much anyway, you are fire, remember?" He began waking up Zane and motioned me to do the same to Jay. I frowned a bit, but did it all the same.

Jay was lying on his side, mumbling. Most of his words were incomprehensible, but I caught 'Nya' and 'Love' somewhere in the mix. I made a face and pulled him over, so he was lying on his back.  
"Jay!" I near shouted at him. He sat up and banged his head on the bunk above.  
"Ow," he said, rubbing the point of impact, "Why did you wake me up Kai?"  
I ignored his question and asked one of my own, "Were you dreaming about my sister?"  
"Maybe..." he said nervously, "Ok, yes, but how could I not? She's so," he was standing up now, staring into space with a happy smile on his face, "She's so, beautiful, and kind, and clever, and beautiful, and funny, and perfect!" He stood there, staring off into the distance. I had to smile. He may be crushing on my sister, which is just, eww, but at least he loves her enough to look after her properly.

"Now do you want me to answer your question?" I asked him.  
"Hmm?" he said, coming out of the trance and turning around, "Oh right, my question," he giggled. I rolled my eyes, this was getting annoying.  
"We're going down to the village below, because it's on fire, and they need our help."  
"Oh, Ok."

While all this had been going on, Cole and Zane had both got changed. Cole rolled his eyes at the sight of Jay still in pyjamas.  
"Jay, you had better get changed as fast as your element, because if you aren't ready in the next ten seconds, the consequences will be deplorable," Cole said threateningly. All I can say is, I've never seen Jay move so fast, without using spinjitsu.

Soon we had jumped off the side of the Bounty, and were falling towards the village. As we were falling, I noticed that there weren't many survivors left. Infact there were just 6. I watched as two were swallowed up by the fire. I instead concentrated on the remaining villagers. There were 3 girls, and a woman in her late-forties, early-fifties. One of the girl was quite small, she looked about 12 or 13. The other two looked about our age. One was blond, and was standing near the older woman. The second was a red-head, but I didn't get a chance to look at her properly before we landed.

As soon as we hit the ground, Cole told Zane to start getting rid of the fire. Those two moved off to do that, leaving me and Jay to help the 4 survivors. I looked up to look at the red-head properly...and my eyes nearly popped out of my head.

She was, well, perfect! Her facial expression was strong and tough, and with the reflection from the purple flames, she looked almost heroic. But there was something vulnerable about her, her frame was very thin and like you could blow her away with one breath; she was shivering, not from cold, but from fear. The same fear that danced in her beautiful blue eyes. She looked tired and bedraggled, and her pyjamas were covered in dirt. I wanted just to be able to take her into my arms, and tell her that nothing would ever hurt her again. She was too beautiful, too precious to be harmed. I stood there, gazing at her, until her expression hardened.  
"What're you looking at, ninja-boy?" she shouted at me, "Get to my sister." She pointed to where the younger girl was. She had collapsed on the floor.

I ran over, and began checking her pulse rate and breathing.  
"She's ok, just passed out," I told the beautiful girl. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she had immediately got a little less tense, "Can you think of anything that could have caused this?" Her face screwed up in a curious expression, which I took to mean she was thinking. It was so cute! I quickly turned my head away from her, incase I started staring at her again. I waited for a while, then I heard a gasp. I looked up, and she was smiling down at me. Her smile was so cute too! Her lips looked so plump and gorgeous, I just wanted to press mine against hers. Then, as she frowned again, I could tell that I had been staring at her again.  
"Will you stop doing that?" she asked me, obviously irritated.  
"Sorry," I said, blushing. Why was I blushing? I never blush! I was acting like Jay does around Nya!

I stopped short. Like Jay does around Nya.

Oh, Sweet Jesus.

"Um, what were we talking about again?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.  
"I was about to tell you that it was the smoke from the fire that knocked Annie out."  
"Was it?"  
"Yeah, she always has a bad reaction to it."  
"Well," I said, moving to pick her up, "It doesn't look as though she'll be waking up anytime soon, so I'd better carry her. I suppose you four will be coming with us back to our home? I mean, its not as though there's anything left here." As she looked around at the village, the look on her face made me want hug her that very minute, but I stayed where I was.  
"I suppose you're right," she sighed, "But I will carry her." I shrugged. She could carry her sister if she wanted to, but she did look very tired. That's all I was thinking about. I was definitely not trying to impress her. She went to pick her up, but was struggling to lift her. She looked at me, "A little help, please?" She put her right hand under the girl's upper back, and her left under the knees. I lifted the lower back. When the girl was lifted properly, I took my hands away, so she could carry her sister herself.

We walked over to where Jay and the other two were standing.  
"Hi Kai! This is Gina and her mum Elsie," he introduced. The blonde girl, Gina, grinned and waved at me, and her mum just smiled.  
"Pleased to meet both of you," I smiled back, "Jay, this is Annie," I gestured to the younger girl, "and, er..." I realised I hadn't actually asked her name. Thankfully, she spoke for me.  
"Mesi," she said, smiling at Jay. I frowned. How come he gets a smile? Maybe she likes him?  
I started burning in jealousy. It's not fair! Jay already has Nya! Why can't the girls fall for someone other than him?  
"Kai? Are you alright?" Jay asked, concerned. I was so angry at him! First, he gets my sister, and that I'm not too happy about. Now he steals the heart of the girl I happen to have fallen in love with! If he hurts either of them in anyway, it'll be good bye Lightning Ninja.  
"What? Yeah, I'm fine," No, I'm not, I'm tired and now really depressed because of you, nitwit.  
"Ok," I could tell he didn't believe me, "Well, as I was saying, you'll have to come and live on our ship, the Destiny's Bounty, because you can't stay here." We all nodded in agreement.

Cole and Zane came back up our street just then.  
"Well, that's the fire sorted out," Cole said, "Hi," he addressed the girls, "I'm Cole, Ninja of Earth, this Zane, Ninja of Ice," Zane nodded at them, "and you've met Kai and Jay. Who are you?"  
"Elsie."  
"Gina."  
"Mesi, and this is Annie." We all looked at the girl in Mesi's arms.  
"What made her pass out?" Zane asked.  
"She reacted badly to the smoke," Mesi answered.  
"I thought that we'd better take her to the medical room on the Bounty when we got back," I suggested.  
"Good plan," Cole agreed, "They'll have to..."  
"Stay at the Bounty? Yes, that's what we thought," Jay finished for him.  
"'K then, let's go!"

Before we left, we had told Sensei where we were going, and he said he would get Nya to land the ship nearby the village. So, we walked towards the northern side, as all the other areas were covered in dense forest. We started out walking, but gradually, Mesi began to drag behind. I knew the extra weight would be too much for her. I stayed with her, ready to take the girl off her if it got too much.  
"So, you're Kai, right?" she smiled, but I could see in her eyes that she was struggling.  
"Yep," I replied to her question.  
"Cool name," she tried to smile wider, but grimaced at the weight of her sister.  
"Mesi, are you sure you're alright carrying her?"  
"Yes, I'm sure! Of course I can do it!" she said determinedly, but the grimace remained. I couldn't bear seeing her like that any more, and I lifted Annie out of her arms.  
"No! What're you doing?" she asked, alarmed.  
"You're too tired to carry on carrying her. I'm a ninja, we're made to have super-long stamina."  
She frowned, but didn't protest further. The girl was actually quite light, but Mesi was tired, and she hadn't had ninja training. She noticed how easily I carried her sister and frowned a little.  
"Are all the ninjas as strong as you?" she asked, a little awkwardly. I smiled at her.  
"Easily, I should think. Cole is the strongest."  
"I see," she said quietly. I decided to risk the question that had been burning on my mind since she met Jay.  
"Erm, do you, like them?" I asked tentatively.  
"What do you mean 'do I like them'? Like as in like like, or like as in as a friend?"  
"Erm, both?"  
"Well, I like all of you as friends, I think. You all seem friendly, but I haven't really talked to anyone apart from you properly." I breathed a sigh of relief. So she didn't like Jay! I suddenly felt guilty for being mean to him, even if it was only in my head. Even if she did like him, it wasn't his fault. I knew he loved Nya more than anyone else in the world, so I couldn't expect him to steal Mesi away! I guess I just saw green.

"So!" I said brightly. Mesi looked at me, puzzled as to why I was suddenly so happy. I dampened it a little, so she didn't think anything was up, "Are you looking forwards to seeing our ship?"  
"Well, I'm looking forward to having a bath, certainly." I chuckled.  
"You three will probably share a room with Nya, my little sister, and Elsie can have her own room. Though of course tonight, Annie will be in the med. room. Is that alright?" I asked. She bit her lip.  
"Actually, is it ok if I sleep in the med. room with Annie? I don't want to be separated from her on a night like this." I nodded.  
"That should be fine, we can put another bed up easy," I smiled.  
"Thanks. Why are you looking after me so much?" she asked, smiling. That wiped the smile right off my face.  
"Er...I just feel sorry for you, I guess," that and the fact that I am madly in love with you. She didn't look convinced. I didn't blame her.  
"Ok, if you say so." We didn't talk for the rest of the walk.

* * *

**Writing in Kai's POV is fun! Especially angry bits!**

**I'm just warning you now, a song will feature at some point in this story. I know which song it is, but I'm keeping it under wraps. I'll give you a clue though: it's from a Disney film.**

**The next chapter is from Mesi's POV, and I should be able to upload tomorrow. I'm obsessedly writing this ALL the time. It's a bit ridiculous but, oh well.**

**And the ninja don't know that Mesi and Annie are twins, 'cause Annie looks 13, so they think she's a younger sister.**

**Thanks for reading! x**


	3. Chapter 3 - Mesi's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ninjago, ok? Don't rub it in.**

**This is Mesi's POV, this one.**

* * *

We were walking to where the ninja said that their ship had been landed. I didn't quite get how a ship, which is normally on water, could fly, but I was so tired, I just went with it. Earlier, I had insisted that I carry Annie, because I didn't quite trust the ninja. But now I was regretting it. My arms were aching, and I was so tired, that I started lagging behind. The red ninja, the one who had offered to carry her, walked behind with me. I thought that his name was Kai, from what the others had said.  
"So, you're Kai, right?" I asked him. I tried to smile, but it felt fake.  
"Yep," he replied. He was looking at me, then at Annie, then back at me, frowning a little. I gulped.  
"Cool name," I smiled wider. There was silence for a few seconds, the he spoke.  
"Mesi, are you sure you're alright carrying her?" He had cracked onto the fact that she was too heavy and I was too tired.  
"Yes, I'm sure! Of course I can do it!" I said. I didn't even convince myself. Suddenly, I felt the weight disappear. I turned to see Kai lifting Annie up off arms.  
"No! What're you doing?" I gasped at him. Why was he taking her?  
"You're too tired to carry on carrying her. I'm a ninja, we're made to have super-long stamina," he quite rightly pointed out. I frowned a little, but I knew he was right. I was extremely tired. I'd give anything to be in his arms right now. Hang on! Why on earth would my brain word it like that? It's not as though I like him or anything, we've barely met!

I noticed how easily he seemed to carry Annie, even though her size certainly didn't stop her from weighing like a sack of bricks. I decided to inquire about it.  
"Are all the other ninja as strong as you?" God, I worded that awkwardly! I could feel a hint of blush spreading onto my cheeks. Stop it! Stop it now! I mentally shouted at myself. Luckily, Kai didn't seem to notice. He smiled a little at me.  
"Easily, I should think. Cole is the strongest," he continued smiling that stupid, cute smile of his. "I see," I near whispered. I couldn't say anything else: why the hell did I just think cute?  
Tthen he frowned a little, like he was deciding something hard. He kept opening his mouth like he was gonna speak, but then close it again. I waited, but began to get frustrated. Spit it out already! Finally, he stopped doing a fish impression, and got with actually speaking.  
"Um...do you, like them?" meaning his fellow ninja.  
"What do you mean 'do I like them'? Like as in like like, or like as in as a friend?" I smiled. That caught him out.  
"Um...both?" I thought about it. They all seemed very nice and friendly, but I hadn't really talked to anyone except him. I expressed this in my answer to him, and when I did, his facial expression underwent a huge relief of stress. It immediately took a cocky grin, which I could tell was its usual setting, not the pained smile from before. Before his face was just cute in a caring, concerned, almost innocent and naive way. Now he was confident, stronger, more resolved and decisive, and very, VERY hot.

Oh no, it's actually happening, I'm officially a stupid idiot.  
"S-o," he said, grinning at me. I frowned a bit. Why, why, why, why, WHY? He stopped grinning as much, which helped a lot. "Are you looking forward to seeing our ship?" Now this was an easy question.  
"Well, I'm looking forward to having a bath, certainly," I smiled. He laughed, making me slightly blush. It was the truth though, my hair was a haystack and I could feel the layers of dirt coating my face. I hate not being clean.  
"You three will probably share a room with Nya, my little sister, and Elsie can have her own room. Though of course tonight, Annie will be in the med. room. Is that alright?" No, it isn't. Me and Annie had never slept in different rooms ever since mum died, and on a night like this, I'd rather die.  
"Actually, is it ok if I sleep in the med. room with Annie? I don't want to be separated from her on a night like this." Thankfully, he nodded. I inwardly sighed with relief.  
"That should be fine, we can put another bed up easy," he smiled the cute smile again. I smiled, but then something shot into my mind that just wouldn't go. I decided to test my theory.  
"Thanks. Why are you looking after me so much?" I smiled in what I hoped was an angelic way, but when I saw his vanish completely, mine was diminished slightly as well. Oh dear, that can't be good.  
"Er...I just feel sorry for you, I guess." That was the least convincing lie I had ever heard, but instead of calling him out on it, I just let it slide.  
"Ok, if you say so." If I did call him out on it, I might have got a confirmation of my idea, and that would have been the worst thing for me at the time. However, I may as well had done that, as his face afterwards gave me the answer I wasn't looking for. We simultaneously began speed-walking to get back to the main group and kill the awful, awkward silence.

Oh, what on earth is happening? I know that he probably likes me, and I know I possibly like him back. But I knew it couldn't go any further. Not after the last time. I had completely given my heart to this boy and he had ripped it up into tiny little pieces then thrown it in the sewer. My sister and my friends helped me recover, and we got revenge, but I always felt like I had left a tiny, weeny piece with him, and it hurt bad. After that, I had sworn not to let my heart get mixed up with anymore boys. Sure, I went on dates, but made sure I didn't think about them as too seriously.

But this boy, this boy who I had only known for maybe half an hour, was disturbing the peace that existed in my heart. I knew there was only one way of stopping it, I had to avoid him as much as I could. It would hurt both of us, but I knew that otherwise I'd be hurting a whole lot more. That's the problem with love, which ever way you look at it, it'll always bring heartache in some way or another.

Thanks to our speed walking, we caught up with everyone else quite quickly. I left Kai with a quick 'bye' and went to walk with Gina and Elsie. Gina pounced on me as soon as I reached them.  
"So..." she nudged me, smiling, "You and Kai, eh?" Thankfully, my face was in shadow, so she didn't see me blush.  
"Gina, Kai is a perfectly nice person, but there is nothing going on between us. Sure, I couldn't say he wasn't very attractive, and pretend that didn't affect me at all, but I am sure nothing will happen. And, before you ask, you know why," I said, deadly serious.  
"Ok, chill! Where's Annie?"  
I sighed, "Kai's got her. He took her off me because I was so tired." Gina was taken aback.  
"You trust him that much?" she knew that I had never, ever left my sister with someone who was practically a stranger.  
"Yes. Infact, I trust all the ninja with my life."  
"Wow, someone made a good impression," she said, in semi-disbelief, "Why?"  
"Well, for starters, they actually stopped to help us. They could have just left us back there, but they stopped and invited us to a place where we could be safe," I replied, "And also, when I was talking to Kai, I know he wasn't lying," I was part lying there, he had lied once, but I knew why that was, "Annie is much better than me at telling how people feel from how they speak, but I can do it to some degree, and all I saw was an urge to care for and look after us in all the ninja." She nodded, slowly.  
"I see what you mean, I can't imagine them actually doing anything bad," she said, thoughtfully, "I was talking to Zane just now, he's a robot, you know, and he says that the ninja and their Sensei are his only family, since his father died. He has sixth sense, a bit like what you and Annie have, and he trusts them, so I think that we should stay with them, as long as we can, until we can find somewhere else to stay. Mum?" she called to Elsie, who had been walking a little way from us.  
"What is it, dear?" she asked.  
"Me and Mesi have decided that we should stay with ninja, until we can find somewhere suitable to live, Do you agree?" she was anxious, I could tell. Gina always overexaggerated her emotions. Elsie smiled.  
"Honey, I knew that ever since they first met us, I always knew it. Call it destiny." I looked at Gina, confused. She shrugged. Her mum was very wise, but what she said didn't always make sense.

By this time, we had reached the ship. On the deck, waving down at us, were an old man, who must have been the sensei, a ten-year-old boy and a girl about our age, wearing a red dress and her black hair in a bob. I guessed that she was Kai's sister. They let down a rope ladder and we climbed onto the deck.  
"Sensei, these are the only survivors from the village. We asked them to stay here, until we can find somewhere else to live, is that alright?" Cole asked. Sensei nodded.  
"That is fine, they are in need of help, and I'm sure Nya wouldn't mind some female company."  
"The girl Kai is carrying fainted in the village, can we get her to the Med. room?"  
"Yes, Kai, take her and Nya," he said turning to the girl, "Go too, you are the most medically trained." The siblings nodded and left. Now I was torn. I could go with them and be sure my sister was safe, but that would mean I had to be with him. I chose not to, even though I was greatly worried for Annie.

Meanwhile, Cole was introducing us.  
"This is Elsie, Gina, Mesi and the other girl is Annie." We smiled at the Sensei and the boy. Sensei smiled back, and the boy waved.  
"It is good to meet you, I am Sensei Wu, and this is my nephew, Lloyd," Sensei said, "We are happy to have you here as long as it takes to find you another place to live."  
"Thank you, we don't know if we'd still be alive if the ninja hadn't come to help us," Gina said solemnly. There was silence for a few seconds as we reflected on the scale of death that had occurred. Then I realised: Dad was dead! I was on the brink of tears but just before they spilt over, I spoke to Sensei.  
"Sensei, can I go to see if my sister is alright?"  
"Of course."  
"Sure, I'll take her!" Kai said enthusiastically. I nearly jumped out of my skin; I hadn't realised he was back. At his suggestion I bit my lip, more time with Kai was not a good thing, but I really needed to see my sister. "Come on, Mesi." I had to follow him.

As we walked, I was conscious of the fact that Kai was staring at me. I stopped.  
"Kai, please can you stop staring at me, its weird," I said, looking at the floor.  
"Oh, um, s-sorry," he stuttered out. We continued walking. Then he stopped. We were next to a door with a red cross on it. "Um, so, we're here."  
"Thanks, Kai," I smiled at him. I was going to have to hurt him so much, I had to be nice to him now.  
"No problem," he grinned again. Yes, that grin. I smiled again and went inside. God, I have to stop doing that!

Inside, Nya was leaning over Annie, who was lying on a bed. She still hadn't woken.  
"Hi, Nya, is it?" I said cautiously. She stood up and smiled at me.  
"It is, you must be Mesi. Kai told me about you." I shifted uncomfortably. Oh dear.  
"Kai said a bed could be put up in here so I could be near Annie tonight."  
"Of course," she smiled, walking to the door, "I'll get Jay to do it. JAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!" He came running.  
"What's happened? Is something wrong? Are you hurt Nya?" he looked worried, let's say.  
"No, nothing's wrong. Mesi would like a bed to be put up so she can be near to Annie. Can you do that, please?" she asked him, almost shyly.  
"Of course, no problem!" he replied, grinning awkwardly. He went out the room, and came back a couple of minutes later, wheeling a bed. He positioned it about three feet away from Annie's, then turned to me, again grinning.  
"Is that alright? There are probably some bedclothes around here somewhere," he asked.  
"It's fine, thanks Jay."  
"Thank you, Jay," Nya said, "We would have taken twice the time it took you to."  
"Uh, that's alright," he reassured her, blushing.  
"No, really! I would have been able to have done it myself if I wasn't so," she yawned, "tired." She leant on his shoulder.  
"Do you want me to, er, take you back to your room?" he asked her, moving so she was leaning against his chest. She looked up at him, smiling.  
"Would you? Are you alright here Mesi?" she turned to me anxiously. I smiled at her.  
"Of course, you go and get some rest." Whatever was going on between them, I could only encourage it.  
"Thanks, we'll see you in the morning," Jay smiled at me.  
"'Night, Mesi," Nya said.  
"Na'night." They walked out the room.

I went to the cupboard to get bedclothes. They were a nice lot, these lot. Cole was obviously the leader, and was quite bossy from what I'd seen of him. Jay and Nya had something going on. I didn't know quite what it was, but there was a definite, attraction between them. Zane was a robot, and had sixth sense, like me and Annie. Gina seemed to like him and trust him, but I hadn't really spoke to him. I hadn't really spoken to anyone except Kai.

Oh, Kai. He liked me, that much was obvious. The question was, did I like him? I certainly trusted him an awful lot, and I didn't quite know why. And when he grinned at me, I semi-melted inside. But that didn't mean much. I just had a little crush on him. A little crush never hurt anybody. I was determined not to let it grow to anything bigger. I couldn't do that.

At this point, I had got the bedclothes on the bed, and was about to get in, when I realised how grotty and dirty I was. So, I opened a door that led off the main room, and found a bathroom. I turned on the light and closed the door. I was too tired to have a bath, so I made do with a shower. There was shower gel and shampoo in a cupboard under the sink. I was about to take off my pyjamas when I realised that there was no point in getting clean if the pyjamas would just make me dirty again. Again I looked in the cupboard, and found a plain surgical gown. It would do, but I would need some more clothes tomorrow. I could go and see if they had a washing machine after my shower, and laid out the gown for afterwards.

When I was in the shower, I didn't think of anything. Just concentrating on getting clean. I purged all thoughts from my mind as I got all the mud and soot off my skin, and detangled my hair, which was a slow process. I then got out and dried myself, and changed into the gown. I picked my pyjamas up off the floor and went out of the room...

...to see Kai sitting on my bed.

Oh no, not again.

"Um, hi Kai," I greeted him cautiously. He stood up immediately.  
"Hi Mesi, I came to check if you had everything you need, I know Jay and Nya left you alone," I saw the disapproval etched upon his face easily. I sat down on the bed cross-legged and motioned for him to sit next to me.  
"You don't like them being together," I said, matter-'o-factly.  
"Yes! No! I don't know!" he sighed, "I trust Jay, and I know he can protect her easily, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to see Nya with anybody just yet. She's still my little sister." I put my hand on his shoulder.  
"She'll be fine with him, I don't know if I've ever seen anyone more in love with someone in my entire life." He looked up at me and smiled.  
"I know, it's just not easy to come to terms with."  
"You'll get there eventually, it'll just take time. I don't know how I'd feel if Annie fell in love with someone."  
"Thanks, Mesi. Is there anything you need?" he asked me again.  
"Actually, do you have a washing machine?" I held up my pyjamas.  
"Sure, the washing basket's just over there," he pointed to a basket hanging on the wall. I walked over and put the dirty clothes in.  
"Ok, so I think I've got everything now," I said as I sat down again.  
"Yeah, tomorrow you can borrow some of Nya's clothes tomorrow, I suppose." I nodded, then yawned.  
"Oh, right, I should probably leave you, you know, to go to sleep," he said, getting up.  
"Night, Kai," I lay down.  
"Night."

* * *

**This was so much fun to write! It's been like the funnest thing I've ever written, EVER!**

**I put in some huge clues as to what song I'll be using. If you can guess it right, I'll tell you that you're right, and if loads of people get it right, then I'll announce it as at the end of a chapter.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Anemone's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ninjago!**

**This has taken AGES to do. Though it has been fun. I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

When I woke up, I was lying on a hospital bed in a room I didn't recognise. I sat up, and looked around. The ceiling were quite low, and the whole thing was made of wood. Another bed was a few feet away from mine and cupboards lined the walls. Next to my bed was a small table, upon which laid a small envelope with my name written on it in Mesi's handwriting. I opened it and took out the contents.

"Annie," It said, "If you're reading this, then you've woken up, finally! Don't worry, we're safe, I'm safe, you're safe, Gina and Elsie are safe. After you were knocked out by the smoke, the ninja arrived and put out the fire. They invited us to come back to their ship with them and stay there until we can find somewhere else to live. So here we are. If you press the red button next to your bed, one of the boys will come for you. Don't worry. Love, Mesi."

I put the paper back on the table. The button was almost behind the bed, but I found and pressed it. Then I sat on the bed, waiting. Unable to stay still for long, I tidied my bed, then the other one. Just as I finished, I heard a knock at the door.  
"Come in!" I called, and turned around. A boy in a black ninja suit, with the hood off, and long, black hair popped his head round the door.  
"Annie?" he asked, a little unsure. I nodded. "I'm Cole, I'm the leader of the ninja. Your sister probably explained it to you in that letter, but we've decided that all four of you should stay here until you can find somewhere to stay."  
"That sounds like a good plan," I smiled, and he smiled back.  
"So, did you sleep well?" he asked. I frowned a little, considering the question.  
"I think so, but I don't really know what was sleeping and what was being unconscious. Though technically, while sleeping you are unconscious, but you know what I mean."  
"You can't separate the time you were knocked out from from the time you were actually sleeping?"  
"Yes, exactly that," I nodded happily.  
"Well, that's good! Isn't it?" he smiled, but there was a tone in his voice that I couldn't quite put my finger on, "One of the ninja's sister, who always lives here, is letting you wear her clothes, just until we can get to some shops to buy you new clothes. We're heading towards Ninjago City right now." Ok, now I knew what the tone in his voice was, patronisation.  
I looked at the floor and said quietly, "Cole, you do know that I'm 30 seconds older than Mesi?" His mouth hung open.  
"S-so you're twins?" he asked, flabbergasted. I nodded slowly. "B-but you look so much more..."  
"Smaller? Plainer? Ordinary? Don't worry about not hurting my feelings, I know its true."  
"...Different," He finished, "I'm sorry, we all thought you were twelve!"  
"Yeah, I get that a lot. We're nearly 17 now, so I've almost stopped growing, which means, unless I have some sort of miracle growth spurt in the next month, I'm a midget for life," I sighed.  
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.  
"Don't be," I grinned, "Being a midget is nothing bad, it's just weird that I'm older than Mesi, and still this much smaller than her. I don't mind it other than that."  
"Well, I suppose you'll want to have a shower and get changed," he said, after a couple minutes of silence had passed. I nodded.  
"Yeah, you can stay in here while I go in the bathroom," I replied. He gestured to a door off the room.  
"The bathroom's through there," he said. I smiled, thanked him and went inside.

After I had had a shower, I put on the clothes that I had been given. They were way too big, but if I rolled up the sleeves of the t-shirt and the legs of the pants, it just about fit. Luckily the waistband was elasticated, so I could adjust that easily enough. On the side was hair stuff, so once I had brushed my hair, I tied it into two plaits at the side of my head, wrapped them over the top, and pinned them down on the other side. Then I had a horrific thought: where were my glasses? I had them on when I was last conscious, but didn't know what happened to them after that. I suppose I could survive without them, my eyesight wasn't that bad, it was just consistently not good rather than really bad at certain things. Anyway, in the city there would be an opticians.

I then came out of the bathroom, and smiled at Cole, who had sat himself on the bed. I held up my dirty pyjamas.  
"Is there a washing basket?" I asked.  
"Yup, over there," he pointed to next to the door. I put the clothes in.  
"Can we go and meet the others now?" I suggested.  
"Sure, lets go." We walked out.

We went to the kitchen first. Mesi was washing up. It appeared they had just finished lunch. she squealed when she saw me and rushed to hug me.  
"Annie! I'm so glad you're alright! You've been out for 12 hours!" she near-shouted at me.  
"I'm fine! I guess I was just tired, as well as being knocked out," I near-shouted back at her. Cole winced.  
"Do you have to shout?" he asked with a terrible expression on his face. We laughed at him.  
"Yes, we do. It's a sister thing!" Mesi grinned, "Come on, Annie. We need to introduce you to Jay and Zane and Nya and Lloyd and Sensei!"  
"And Kai!" Cole reminded her.  
"Oh yeah, Kai," she said with a strange expression on her face. It was horror, mixed with shame, and with a bit of disdain mixed in there too. I wondered why she didn't like him.

Now we had begun walking to 'the deck' where I had been told the others were training. Once we reached there, Cole called everyone's attention.  
"Guys, Annie's woken up!" he said. There was a flash of blond hair, and suddenly, Gina was hugging me.  
"Gina! Get off!" I said. She did so, but was unashamed when she stood up, and was grinning ear to ear.  
"I'm so glad you're alright! You were out of it for soooo long!" she said excitedly, "Let's introduce you to everybody!" She dragged me off to stand in front of a boy wearing a white ninja suit. "Annie, this is Zane, white ninja of ice, Zane this is Annie, Mesi's twin." We shook hands.  
"It is good to meet you Annie," he said, "You and Mesi are twin's? We all thought you were a lot younger than her."  
"I know, me and Cole went through this," I sighed, "Still, its nice to meet you too, Zane."  
"Zane's a nindroid, and he has a type of sixth sense, like you and Mesi," Gina explained.  
"A nindroid! That's really cool!" I said.  
"I know!" she said, "That's what I said. Zane is cool! Anyway, moving on."  
There was something going on between those two, you could tell from how they looked at each other.

Next was Jay, the ninja in the blue suit. He possibly matched Gina in the speed at which he spoke.  
"Hi Annie! We're really glad to have you here, I'm glad that you've woken up. Not that it was your fault that you weren't awake, but Mesi was getting really paranoid that you wouldn't wake up, and it was annoying everybody. She kept bugging Nya about when you would wake up, and because Nya is so nice, she tolerated it wonderfully, and told her that you would wake up when you did. Gosh, Nya is so good at calming people down..." At this point, a girl in a red dress came up to us. I presumed she was the famed Nya.  
"Were you just talking about me?" she asked all four of us.  
"Um... h-hi Nya," Jay grinned nervously, "We were just, um, talking about how nice you were about Mesi getting paranoid earlier."  
"Oh, so it wasn't anything bad?" she asked quietly. Jay looked shocked.  
"Of course not! Why would we say anything bad? You're the nicest, kindest, cleverest person I know!" he exclaimed.  
"Um, thanks Jay, that's really nice of you to say that," she smiled a little, "I know I'm not really all that, but it's really sweet of you to say so." Well, SOMEBODY'S got self-esteem issues!  
"No! You really are! You're the best person in the world! You're just mean to yourself! You have the patience of a saint, putting up with us lot, and you're really, really pretty, and you managed to make up and be the whole Samurai X thing, without any of us suspecting. You're epic!" Ooooh! Sounds like Jay loves Nya!  
"Thanks Jay, it means a lot to me to hear you say that." And by the looks of things, his feelings are reciprocated!  
"Hey, no problem," Jay grinned sheepishly. They stared at each other, grinning like mad people.

Just then, a blur of green sped into our circle. It stopped.  
"Annie, this is Lloyd, the green ninja," Gina introduced him to me.  
"Hi Lloyd," I waved. He stared at me.  
"You're Mesi's sister aren't you?" I nodded. "How old are you?"  
"I'm 16," I replied. He gaped even more.  
"You're REALLY small!" he exclaimed. I chuckled.  
"Yes, Lloyd, I am."  
"And you don't mind it?" he asked. He seemed to be struggling to comprehend how I was so relaxed about being so small.  
"Not really, I've kinda got used to it."  
"I'm glad I'm still gonna grow," he said, wrinkling up his face, "I'd hate being small forever. No offence!"  
"Non taken. Besides, I quite like being small. People underestimate you, and then the expression on their face is even more funny when you kick their ass!"  
"Cool..." he said, with wonder on his face. Then he promptly ran off. I shrugged, kids these days were weird.

There was only one ninja left now, for me to meet. Kai had been standing a little way away from us, angrily, but almost absent-mindedly throwing punches at a punch bag. I had noticed that he had kept glancing up at us, all that time when we were talking. It was only me and Mesi now. Gina had gone to find Zane (surprise, surprise) and Jay and Nya had gone to the engine room or something. I was about to walk over to him, when Mesi tugged on my sleeve.  
"Look, do we have to go and talk to him?" she asked, whiningly.  
"Yes, it would be rude not to," I replied.  
"Hmmf," she frowned.  
"Alright, what's he done?" I said, rolling my eyes.  
"Wha-what do you mean?" she answered.  
"Well, you obviously don't like him."  
"I don't know," she said sadly, "Sometimes he's really nice, and we get along really well. But then there'll be something to break it, and it's really tense and awkward afterwards. It's really confusing!" Inwardly, I grinned. It wasn't that she didn't like him, rather that she liked him too much!  
"I can go and talk to him myself, if you like," I offered. She smiled.  
"Would you? Thanks, Annie!" she hugged me then went to stand on the other side of the ship, looking over the side.

I walked over to where Kai was. He had stopped training now, and was leaning against the side, looking down. I smiled at him.  
"Hi Kai," I waved. He smiled weakly.  
"Hi Annie," he replied. I went to join him, leaning over the side. I looked down and realised: the ship was in the sky!  
"Woah!" I said, taking a step back, "Are we really in the sky?"  
"Yep," he answered proudly, "This was one of Jay's inventions, the flying," he saw my face and smiled, "I know, its a bit of a shock when you first see it." I came back to the side, and realised we weren't actually that high up.  
"She doesn't like me does she?" he asked glumly.  
"Who?" I replied.  
"Mesi."  
"What gave you that idea?" I asked.  
"She avoids me at all costs! Earlier, I offered to help with the dishes, but she said, no, she'd do it herself. But then, Cole was helping her later! Why did she let him help and not me?" he was despairing now.  
"Kai, I know for a fact that my sister doesn't not like you, but neither does she like you," I tried to reassure him.  
"Well then, how does she feel about me?" he asked. I sighed.  
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. You'll have to work it out for yourself. Sorry." And with that I left him to join Mesi again.

"So, what did you talk about?" she asked me anxiously, once I got back to her.  
"Nothing much. How the ship flies and stuff," Well, I wasn't going to tell her! Would you?  
"Oh," she said, not disappointed, just confused, "Anyway, I'd better take you to meet Sensei."

We walked into the rooms of the ship, and made our way to Sensei's room. Mesi knocked on the door. It almost immediately opened, to reveal a little old man, with a long white beard. He must have been the Sensei.  
"Good afternoon, Mesi, Annie," he nodded.  
"Good afternoon, Sensei. Thank you for having us here," I replied.  
"It is very good fortune that you three met us. Not only for your sakes, but also for destiny itself!" he announced grandly. Mesi and I looked at each other, confused. "Can you call Gina here, please?" he asked us.  
Mesi stuck her head out the door and shouted, "GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A!"  
Gosh, that girl can scream!  
Gina came running, but when she burst into the room, she was barely out of breath. "What's happened? What have I done?" she asked, panicked.  
"You've not done anything wrong, Sensei just wanted to speak to us," I replied.  
"Oh, well, that's alright then," she settled herself down on my other side.

"Long before time had a name," Sensei started mystically. Then he stopped, pulled a face, and carried on much faster, "The first spinjitsu master made the world from four spinjitsu weapons. Had two sons, told them to look after the weapons when he died. One turned evil, wanted the weapons for power. They battled, the evil one was struck down into the underworld. The non-evil one returned peace, and hid the weapons. Put dragons to guard them and made a map which he gave to an 'honest man'. The End." He finished, breathing heavily.  
"Or so we thought," I heard Elsie's voice from behind us. I hadn't even noticed she was in the room.  
"You see," Sensei continued, "There was another legend. Too fantastical and incredible for me to believe. Some ancient scrolls say, in their obscure way, that the first spinjitsu master had a sister. This sister was even more powerful and accomplished at spinjitsu than anybody else has ever been. But, her brother got all the glory, because he was a boy. She didn't mind this, but wanted to make her mark on the world too. So, when he was busy make all the lightning and fire happen, she put her own contributions in, using her own platinum weapons. These were less violent and flashy than the original four elements, but were equally, if not more, vital for human life. She had six in total: 3 elemental, 3 human and emotional. The elemental three were water, sunlight and air, and the human three were love, joy and hope.

"She did not tell her brother about her creations, and instead got married and had children as women were supposed in those days. She had three daughters, and told them her great secret. They went off into the world and spread through legend their mother's tale. One of them, the youngest, out-lived the other two by miles. She was an old woman, and lived quietly by herself in the woods. One day, she heard a voice singing. It was in no language she had ever heard before, and bear in mind that she had travelled the length and breadth of the land and new all the languages within it. However, she understood it perfectly. It was telling her to follow it, and so she did. She, despite having arthritis and rheumatism all over her, walked across the forest, and as she walked, she felt all her pains disappear and float away. Then the voice stopped singing and she saw that she was in the centre of a glade. In front of her was a mirror, simple but ornate. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw herself as she had looked when she was twenty-one. She looked at her arms, and saw that her skin had regained its elasticity and was young again. She had another life ahead of her. She got married and settled down, the on thing she had never done before. She had two children, a boy and a girl, but sadly, the boy died with his father in a tragic accident.

"How, you may ask, do I know all of this? And in this much detail? Well, the youngest daughter of my father's sister, actually I could just say my cousin. My cousin is at the present standing right next to you," he pointed to next to Gina. We all turned to look and gasped.  
"M-m-m-mum?" Gina stuttered out. Elsie nodded, smiling. "Mum? You're actually decades years older then you look now?"  
"I am, and my real name's not Elsie either. It's Lichisoma, but Elsie's my name now," she replied, still smiling.  
"One question," Mesi said, turning to Senseu Wu, "Why do me and Annie have to know all this? I get that Gina needs to know her true family history, but surely it's irrelevant to us." He smiled.  
"There was something that I missed out of the story. Elsie, would you like to tell them?" he asked her.  
"Of course," she replied. They both had smug smiles on their faces. They had planned this out together, and were having the most enormous fun. "When my mother was on her death bed, us three were gathered around her. We did not worry for her death, we knew that her role in life had been fulfilled, and she was dying in complete peace. Her last words were very faint, we could hardly hear them, but she said, "Find the three, the three who can protect the peace, and who can find the platinum weapons. Oh, and remember to let the cat out." We did not know what she meant, apart from the bit about the cat. But we made it our life's work to find the three people who could protect the peace and find the platinum weapons. We each had a different one to find. My oldest sister, Ankimota, was to find the person corresponding to water and hope. The middle sister, Tashitoko, was to find the person corresponding to air and love. I was responsible for the person corresponding with sunlight and joy." She smiled at us warmly, "I always suspected they would be girls, due to the girl-centered vibe the legend was already taking. And here you are, proving me right!"

We all stared at her, in shock at that last sentence. I was the first to speak.  
"So, we're the three?" I asked, still in partial shock.  
"Yes, you are," Sensei replied.  
"Three what?" Gina asked, all shock now gone from her face. It had been completely replaced with curiosity.  
"You are the three kunoichi, the defenders and protectors of peace," Elsie announced grandly, "NINJA-GO!" She transformed into a silver torpedo, and flew past us. We stared at her once she had turned back to normal. "What? My mum was the greatest spinjitsu master of all time, you can't expect me not to know how to do it. And it should be yourselves you're looking at, sweeties!"

I looked across at the others. They were both in ninja suits - or, should I say kunoichi suits - with the hoods down. Gina's was sunshine yellow, and had splashes of lime green across it. Mesi's was aqua blue, with shimmery, multi-coloured streaks on it, like when there's a waterfall, and the light creates mini rainbows. I looked down at mine. It was beige. Typical.  
"Gina, you are the master of Sunshine and promoter of Joy. Mesi, you are master of Water and protector of Hope. Annie, you are master of Air and creator of Love," Elsie said to each of us.  
"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why do they get cool colours, when my suit is beige?" I asked her timidly, whilst the others were rhapsodying about how cool this was.  
"Your suit may be plain now, but try putting the hood up," she smiled. I did as she said and immediately shrieked when I saw the result. The other two quickly turned round.  
"Annie, where are you?" Mesi asked. I giggled: I was invisible!  
"When I put the hood up of my suit, I turn invisible!" I told her.  
"Oh my god! That is so cool!" Gina shouted.  
"Calm, Gina," I said, taking my hood off.

"Girls, do you accept your destinies as the three protectors?" Elsie asked us.  
"Of course," I replied.  
"Definitely," Mesi agreed.  
"Do we get to stay on the ship?" Gina asked.  
"I think that can be arranged," Elsie smiled.  
"Then, YEAAAAAH!" she shouted. We all winced at the volume.

_Jesus, that girl is loud_, I heard a voice say.  
"Did you hear that?" I asked the others. They shook their heads.  
"What?" Gina asked.  
"Oh, nothing," I replied.  
_Who the heck are you?!_ I mentally shouted.  
_I am Tashitoko, one of the three daughters. I was originally supposed to find you, but I died before I could_, she replied, _Call me Tashi._  
_Alright, Tashi, One question: What the hell are you doing in my head?_  
_When we discussed who would look for each of the three, we decided that when we had found all three of you, you would be trained as a team, but each of you would have each of us as a special mentor. We knew that it would be traumatic for you to leave your families, and we hoped that we could help you get through that,_ she explained.  
_So, the others have this too?_ I asked.  
_Mesi does. Gina's mentor is her mum, who is still alive._  
_I see,_ I looked across at Mesi, who was frowning at, apparently nothing. I guessed that the other daughter was talking to her in her head.  
_Tashi?_ I asked in my head.  
_Yes?_ she replied.  
_How can I be a kunoichi? I'm not in the least any good at sport or anything that could help._ I could not see her, but I felt her smile.  
_Being a ninja, or a kunoichi is not about being good physically, you have to have mental and emotional strength as well. When you have those, anything is possible. The power to do this comes from inside you._  
_But, what if I embarrass myself, or let everybody down?_  
_I will always be here to guide you and to help in any way I can. You will be fine._  
_Thanks._ Then I thought of something: _You know, having the invisibility is gonna be very useful..._  
_In what way?_  
_Well, I think I may have a little match-making to do..._ She chuckled, and I grinned.  
_Go for it, it'll be fun. And I'd be honoured to help you with it._  
_'Course you can! And by the looks of things, we're gonna need all the help we can get._ I ran through my mind everybody on the ship. Jay, Nya, Zane, Gina, Kai and Mesi couldn't help. Lloyd was too young. Cole was available, and the right age. _I'll press-gang Cole into helping too._  
_Good plan. How about I tell Ankimota and she can talk to Mesi?_  
_That's a really good idea! Do it, please! This is going to be great, not just the matchmaking, everything! I'm so glad we were picked up from the village by the others._  
_I think that you would have ended up in here in some way anyway, destiny rules all our lives._  
_Yeah,_ I thought, _Destiny._

* * *

**Tashi is now my favourite OC. I love her!**

**The myth/legend was quite hard to write. I felt like I had to explain everything. I hope its plausible.**

**These chapters keep growing in size. Chapter one was 1 thousand and something, chapter 2 was 2 thousand and something, chapter 3 was 3 thousand and something, and this is 4 thousand and something.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Cole's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ninjago!**

**This rambles a bit, I'm sorry about that**

* * *

Jay, Zane, Lloyd, Nya and myself were sitting at the dining table. Kai had cooked, and was about to call the others to eat.  
"Mesi! Gina! Annie! Sensei! Elsie!" he shouted. Mesi and Gina immediately appeared, as if they had been waiting for him to call. We all stared at them: THEY WERE IN NINJA SUITS!  
After a while, I spoke, "Um, girls, if you wouldn't mind telling us, why are you in ninja suits?"  
Mesi grinned, "Silly Cole, don't you know these are kunoichi suits? Girls can't be ninja."  
"So, you're kunoichi?" Jay managed to get out.  
"Yes. We are the three platinum protectors of peace, and we're joining your team!" Gina said excitedly.  
"Well, if you're the three, where's the third?" Kai asked quizzically. They looked to above my head. We all looked with them. There was a bucket levitating above it.  
I managed to say, "What on earth?" softly, before the bucket tipped and I was drenched in water. I heard a giggle, and turned to see Annie magically appear, pulling off her hood.  
"What was that for?" I asked angrily. She giggled again.  
"Sorry, you were closest to the kitchen, it was too easy to miss," she replied, sincerely.  
"Since when can you turn invisible?" Kai asked.  
"Since I became a kunoichi. When I put my hood up I turn invisible," she demonstrated to us, then turned to me, "Cole, I really am sorry, I couldn't resist it," she bit her lip anxiously.  
"Hmmf, well, I guess I forgive you, but you're lucky I'm not in my ninja suit, otherwise it'd be ruined," I got up to go and change, "AND this means it'll be longer until I have some of Kai's cake." She looked at the others quizzically.  
"Cole loves cake," Zane explained.

After I had returned to the table, the rest of the meal passed fairly uneventfully. Annie kept apologising, but I told her to shut up, it was alright, after the 5th time. Kai kept looking at Mesi thoughtfully, like he was trying to figure something out, different from how he normally looked at her. I know he's in love, but could he not make it so obvious a blind man could see it? Mesi seemed to either be oblivious to the fact he was staring at her, or purposefully ignoring him. If the latter, then she's very clever. If the former, then she's dumber than I thought she was.

Towards the end of the meal, Annie disappeared off somewhere. I don't think any of us noticed exactly when she went, but she was just there, then not there. Anyway, she missed Kai's cake, so afterwards, I volunteered to find her and take her a slice.

It turned out she was in the medical room. She had found a blackboard from somewhere, and was drawing on it in chalk.  
"Um, I brought you some cake," I said from the doorway. She popped her head around the side.  
"Oh, I don't want any, you have it," she replied, turning back to the board. I couldn't believe my luck! More cake! I sat on the bed and began to eat. Then, I thought of something.  
"Mmmmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmmmmmmm?" I asked.  
"Pardon?" she queried, absent-mindedly. I swallowed and tried again.  
"Where did you get the blackboard?"  
"Oh, I found in a cupboard," she replied. There were a couple of minutes silence as she began to scratch on the board again and I resumed eating the cake. Finally, she stopped - the noise was beginning to annoy me - and swivelled the board around to face me. It had previously been positioned so that I nor anyone else could see what it was that she had written. "There!" she exclaimed with a flourish. I looked at what she had done more closely. On the board were a series of sums, but instead of numbers there were words. It said:  
'Gina + Zane = Easy  
Nya + Jay = Medium  
Mesi + Kai = Hard'

She was looking at me expectantly, as though I was meant to understand it.  
"Well, what is it?" I asked, after I had finished the cake. She sighed and rolled her eyes.  
"It's a list of who loves who on this ship, dummy," she pointed to the first equation, "Gina and Zane should be easy, they obviously are in love, and if we put them alone together for awhile, it should sort itself out," she pointed down to the next one, "Jay and Nya is a little more tricky, seeing as neither of them know that the others loves them, and both have huge self-esteem problems. However, we should be able to sort that out, a few carefully chosen action sequences and songs should do it." She moved down again, "Kai and Mesi, that's gonna be super hard. Kai doesn't have an inkling that Mesi likes him, he thinks she hates him. And Mesi, well, it's a long story, but she swore never to fall in love again. This one's really down to us convincing Kai that Mesi really does like him, and get him to make a move on her. Again, some songs should be useful, and then Kai will have to prove to her that he really does love her. In the end, we'll get it together, but it's gonna take a long time."  
"You said 'we', who is doing this?" I asked her.  
"Me, Tashi (don't ask who she is) and you," she replied.  
"What makes you think I'll help you?" I was quite cross that she just presumed I would help.  
"Because I make very VERY good chocolate cake. And I'll do all your chores until we're finished," she replied. I thought about it. It didn't seem like much to ask. It might even be fun.  
"Alright, I'll do it," I said. She jumped up and hugged me.  
"Thanks Cole!" she nearly shouted.  
"Hey, get off! I thought Gina was the over-enthusiastic, huggy one?" I prised her off me.  
"Sorry! I just love it when a plan comes together," she sat back down and returned to her usual, calm self, "So, we start immediately."  
"What's our first move?" I asked.  
"Well, I think we'd better wet our feet, by sorting out Gina and Zane. We need to get them together alone," she said, "I tell you what, I'll get her onto the deck, and you get him onto the deck. Then we can spy on them, using my invisibility, and intervene if necessary." I nodded.  
"Sounds like a plan!"

A little while later, we were all set. Gina was on the deck, and Zane would shortly follow her.. We had found a camera and microphone that could be linked to a screen, so I could see what Annie could see, and we could communicate as well. It was a very starry night, how clichedly romantic! I saw Zane come up from the stairs. Annie sucked in her breath and I murmured, "Here we go!" to her.

"Oh, hi Zane!" Gina said in her usual sparky way, "Come sit," she motioned to the area of raised deck that she herself was sat on. Zane sat where she gestured to, and she sighed, resting her chin in her hands, and her elbows on her knees. "Isn't it beautiful?" she waved her hands at the sky.  
"Yes, it is very beautiful," Zane replied. But he wasn't looking at the sky like she was, he was staring at her. Oh, another cliche. I rolled my eyes. It was as if this was a story, and the writer couldn't think of anything original so she (or he, it could be he) used all these old corny cliches instead. But that couldn't be the truth at all, could it?

Meanwhile, Gina had been staring at the stars, Zane had been staring at Gina, and Annie had moved so she was sat behind them.  
"You know what," Gina spoke again, after two minutes of silence, awkward for us, but just great for the two lovebirds over there, "When I was younger my mum told me that whenever there was a shooting star, it was because two people who really really loved each other kissed for the first time. I think that's a wonderful idea, don't you?"  
Zane smiled at her. Now she had her hands on her knees, and he put his hand over hers, "Do you mean its a wonderful idea that that's the reason we have shooting stars, or that people who really, really love each other kiss for the first time?" Their faces were very close now, foreheads almost touching.  
Then, Gina spoke the quietest I had ever heard her be, "Both," she gasped so noiselessly, I could hardly hear it. They were very, very close now, their lips must have been about a centimetre away from each other. They were like that for a minute or so, then I guess Annie finally got impatient or bored, because the next thing I knew she had crashed their heads together, lips locking.

They kissed for ages. After about 10 seconds, I whispered to Annie, "We should probably leaving them. They can sort the rest out themselves." At first I thought she would argue, but then she got up and came in. I powered down the laptop, and put in away. When Annie arrived, I high-fived her as we celebrated our victory.  
"We did it!" she exclaimed excitedly as she put away the camera.  
"I know, I can't believe it worked!" I replied, slightly less excitedly.  
"I can't wait to start on the next one!" she carried on, "We need to create a scenario in which Jay can prove to himself that-"  
"Wo-wo-wo-woah! Hold on, don't get too excited. How, exactly, are we gonna do that?" I asked her. The over-excitedness was bugging me. I thought she was supposed to be the quiet one?  
She looked crestfallen, "Oh," she replied softly, tears visibly creeping into her eyes, "I forgot." I immediately felt terrible. I made her CRY with my cynicality. That's a bit too far, I think.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you that upset, I only meant. . ." I tried to apologise, but my words faltered.  
"No," she replied, turning away, "I'm fine. Just being silly, and tired. Look," she turned back, a brilliant smile on her face, "There, you see, no tears."  
"No, you're not fine, you were CRYING, and no amount of wiping tears away is gonna make me unsee what I saw. I made you cry, that's horrible," I sat down and put my head in my hands, "I'm horrible."

There was moment of silence. Then, I felt a small hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her staring at me, wide-eyed and innocent. Then, she chuckled.  
"Well, at least you got me back for dumping that water on you," she smiled, "And you're not horrible, I'm fine. You're tired, I'm tired. You snapped, because I was over-excited, and I overreacted. Now, let's go and see what the others are up to now."  
"Ok," I said, standing up. I offered her a hand to help her up, "And, are we cool now?"  
She took it and smiled, "Yeah, we're cool."

When we found the others, they were in the living room. Mesi and Jay were against Nya and Lloyd on a video game. Kai was sat in the corner, scowling at Jay. Annie nudged me and pointed at him. She then mouthed 'Jealousy', and I smiled. She took such delight in this match-making business, and it was infectious.  
"Hi guys," she greeted them, moving to sit down.  
"Hey," they all muttered briefly, not really paying attention to anything but the game. We sat down, and watched them play. There was couple of minutes then, as nobody talked, we just watched. Then, I noticed a pattern beginning to emerge. In each level, there would come a point where Nya and Jay would fight, they would battle a bit, then Jay would just stop all attacks, and let Nya beat him. This was repeated 6 or 7 times, until they ran out of levels to play.  
"Purple team," that was Nya and Lloyd, "wins!" the game voiceover said.  
"Yes!" Lloyd shouted, "Can we play another game?"  
"No, let's just chill a bit now," Nya replied to him.  
"Oh," he looked very disappointed.  
"If you unplug that one and put it back in the cupboard, you can play on your handheld," Annie suggested.  
"Ok!" Lloyd replied, excitedly. Annie had very cleverly got him to tidy up, when really he didn't have to put the console away to get his handheld out.

Nya stood, and turned to look at us.  
"I'm going to get some cake for everyone," my ears perked up at the sound of the word 'cake'.  
"Ok," Annie smiled at her.  
"And please be quick!" I shouted after her as she left the room.

Mesi, I had noticed, had been getting very angry between when the game had finished and when Nya had left the room. Now she exploded.  
"DUDE!" she shouted at Jay, "I'm fine with you being a gentleman and all that, but could you not lose us the game?"  
"Uh, I don't know what you mean," Jay replied unconvincingly.  
"Oh, yes you do! You love her, don't you?" she countered.  
"No! I don't!" he squeaked indignantly.  
"Annie," Mesi said, not turning her head away from Jay, "you have the ability to see if people love each other or not. Does Jay love Nya?"  
"Yes."  
"And does Nya love Jay?"  
"Um, I'm afraid I can't answer that," Annie replied sheepishly, "It goes against the code: the kunoichi of love may not tell a person if somebody loves them or not."  
I turned to her, "You have a code?"  
"Anyway," Jay said, slumping in his seat, "You don't need to tell me. I already know she doesn't. Why would she?"  
Mesi closed her eyes, "I give up! Kai, Cole, your turn." We moved in to either side of him.  
"Look, Jay, I know Nya better than anyone, and it is blatantly obvious that she does love you. Even Lloyd can see it. Lloyd," Kai said, "Does Nya love Jay?"  
"Yeah, doesn't everyone know?" Lloyd looked up from his game, surprised.  
"My point," Kai emphasised.  
"And I've been talking to Annie, and from what she says, she's pretty much worked out the same," I added.  
"Well, I don't believe it," Jay said. Me and Kai looked at each other, in disbelief of what Jay was saying. "I don't believe someone as beautiful as Nya could be in love with someone as ordinary as me."

We were about to continue trying to convince him, but Annie shushed us loudly. Nya had come back in the room, with the cake.  
"Cole, Jay, Annie, Mesi, Lloyd, Kai," she said our names as she gave them out. Then she bit her lip. "I didn't know whether to cut slices for Zane and Gina. I haven't seen them in ages." Me and Annie smiled at each other.  
"Don't worry, they know where the kitchen is if they want some," Jay smiled at her as she sat down.

Then, speak of the devil, Zane and Gina came into the room holding hands.  
"Oooh! What have you two been up to?" Mesi asked. They smiled at eachother, then Zane stooped slightly, and kissed her. She eagerly kissed him back, and while they kissed it was extremely awkward for the rest of us.  
"Alright! That's enough! We get it!" Kai near-shouted at the end. They broke apart, still grinning like idiots.  
"So you two are together now?" Annie asked casually.  
"I guess so," Gina replied, still smiling. Zane sat down on an armchair, and Gina sat on his lap. They shifted around a bit so she was leaning backwards against his chest, with her legs on the arm of the sofa. He hugged her from behind, and I guess they looked cute.

"Lloyd? Have you finished your cake yet?" Annie asked him suddenly.  
"Yeah," he replied, barely looking up from his game.  
"Well, it's time for bed for you then," she started to stand up, pulling him with her.  
"Oh, can't I have just 5 more minutes?" he whined.  
"No, you can't. It's already gone quarter past nine as it is!" she replied.  
"Oh, alright," he submitted, as she ushered him out the room, "Can I carry on playing though?"  
"Until nine thirty..." their voices drifted off.

Mesi turned the TV on. It was the news.  
"The police and fire and rescue squads have had several reports of a strange purple fire engulfing small villages up and down all of Ninjago," the newscaster read out, we all were suddenly listening attentively, "They have arrived at the scene of the alleged fire, to find all the people dead, and the village burnt to a crisp. It is supposed that there are no surviving witnesses of the fire, and the only evidence they have is this call to a fire and rescue team in northern ninjago."  
"Hello? Hello? Can you help us please, there's this fire, this huge fire, and it's purple. I'm scared. I think we're gonna die. Please help us," The voice of the caller sounded like it was a small child, a girl, probably around the same age as Lloyd.  
"If anybody has any information about the fires, please contact the police as soon as you can, using this hotline especially set up," a number ran along the bottom of the screen. Kai leant forward to turn the TV off.  
We all looked at each other.  
"We have to do something about this," Gina said, all the usual happiness in her voice vanished.  
"Agreed, we know how to stop these things, and we can get from place to place to do it," Kai replied, taking charge, "Jay, can you get us something that can hack into the police database?"  
"Sure, but why?" Jay replied, puzzled.  
"I have a plan," Kai replied, "We find where and when each fire took place, and put them on a map of Ninjago, to see if there are any patterns. Then, from this, we can predict where the next will be."  
"That's clever," Mesi looked surprised that he could think of that. He rolled his eyes at her.

"I'll start working on a device straight away!" Jay got up and walked out towards the workshop.  
Nya got up as well, "I'll go and, uh, see if he needs any help." She followed the way Jay had gone. We waited a few seconds before bursting into laughter.  
"Aw, it's so sweet how they love each other, but neither thinks nor will believe that the other loves them!" Gina said, very fast, and very excitedly.  
"We ought to do something to convince them to get together," Mesi said thoughtfully. Here, I was stumped. I knew that we were already doing exactly what they were talking about, but I wasn't sure whether it was a secret or not. Luckily for me, Annie walked in at that exact moment.  
"Hi Guys," she flopped onto the space next to me.  
"Hi Annie. We were talking about how we need to get Jay and Nya together," Mesi said to her.  
"Oh, that," Annie smiled at me, "Already on it."  
"What do you mean?" Gina asked. The others had all leaned forward, as if on cue.  
"Well, earlier, Cole and I agreed that we needed to get those two together, and we've started planning how to do it," she said. I got the game plan immediately: don't tell them more than they ask.  
"That's right," I joined in, "We really need as much help as we can get though."  
"You want us to help you don't you?"  
"Yeah."  
"Ok then," Mesi said, "I will help."  
"We'll help too," Gina said and Zane nodded. We all looked at Kai expectantly.  
"What? I'm still deciding," he folded his arms. Everyone looked confused, except Mesi, who seemed to understand. She moved next to him.  
"Is this about what we discussed yesterday?" she asked quietly, so we could barely hear her. He looked at her, then nodded.  
"Well, Nya is old enough to be alright, you know. And if something does go wrong, you can always kill Jay," she smiled, and he did the same. I looked at the others. Annie was watching them, smiling. Gina opened her mouth to say something, but Zane clamped his hand over it.  
"You know what," Kai said, turning to us, "I will."  
"Yay!" Gina near-shouted.  
"Right, we should have a vow," Annie put her hand out so it was in the centre of the circle we had formed. We all put our hands on top of hers. "We vow to get Nya and Jay together, before," she paused, seemingly searching for a usable date, "before Christmas."  
"Gosh, I'd forgotten it was nearly December," Gina said.  
"We vow," I said.  
"We vow."  
"We vow."  
"We vow!" that was Gina.  
"We vow."

* * *

**Towards the end, there was an attempt at an action plot, but I went straight back into romance afterwards. I'm just not good at writing action!**

**I tried to put a bit of everything in here, and the number of cliches went through the roof! The next two chapters are both quite short, so I'll merge them together as one, longer chapter.**

**At the moment, for them, its 30th November, and most of this takes place over Christmas. The twins' birthday is 1st Jan, just so you know.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Zane AND Nya's POVs

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ninjago!**

**So, here it is, the next chapter, which is decidedly shorter than the others, but oh well**

* * *

Chapter 6, Part I - Zane's POV

I walked onto the deck. Cole had told me to go, there was something important there that I must deal with, but he didn't tell me what it was. I thought that was strange. Cole would not normally do that.

Gina was sitting on the raised area. I felt my cheeks warm up instantly, but could not reason why. She was staring at the stars, so, for just a moment, I watched her. The way the moonlight shined upon her hair, made it look less golden, and more silvery, and it was glowing so it looked as if she had a halo. She was iridescent.

She noticed me standing in the doorway.  
"Oh, hi Zane!" she smiled a big, bright smile. An honest, truthful smile. I do not believe she could ever have any secrets, she was so naive and innocent. "Come sit." I sat where she gestured to. She sighed in content, with her chin rested on her hands. She was so peaceful, so, beautiful. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked. For a second, I was shocked: had she read my mind? Then, I realised that she meant the stars.  
"Yes, it is very beautiful," I said, half-lying. I mean, what she thought I said was true, the stars were beautiful, but I had seen them so many times, they were old news. What I actually meant was true as well, she was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life.

We stayed like that for a while, each of us looking at the two beautiful things. It was not uncomfortable, just calm and peaceful.  
"You know what," she said after a time had passed. She was now sat up, with her hands on her knees, smiling at me. Her hair cascaded down over her shoulder like a silver waterfall. "When I was younger my mum told me that whenever there was a shooting star, it was because two people who really really loved each other kissed for the first time. I think that's a wonderful idea, don't you?"  
I smiled, a bit confused. Her question could mean one of two things. I didn't know quite why, but I put my hand on hers. We were very close now. "Do you mean its a wonderful idea that that's the reason we have shooting stars, or that people who really, really love each other kiss for the first time?" Even closer, so I could see every single one of her eyelashes.  
"Both," she breathed. We were almost touching, the gaps between our lips so small, but it felt so far. We both stared at each other dumbly, neither knowing what to do.

Then, it happened.

Suddenly, we were kissing. It was as if a switch had been turned from not-kissing to kissing, it was so sudden. I did not know why we were kissing, but I knew that I cared for this girl in my arms more than anything in the world. Everything about her was amazing and precious, and must be protected. I loved her laugh, I loved her smile. I loved her attitude to life, I loved her complete honesty in everything. I loved how her hair shimmered in the moonlight, I loved the way her eyes could change from light green, right through to dark green. I loved everything about her. I loved her.

I pulled away from her, gasping at that thought. I loved her!

She looked at me, I sensed she was confused, and a little sad. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, but I couldn't express it in words. She looked away, and stared at her hands in her lap. She looked so forlorn and vulnerable. I wanted to comfort her, to tell her that I'd protect her, that everything would be fine, but after what just happened, I felt too emotional. It was an odd feeling.

So, we both sat there, neither knowing what just happened, really. I was racking my brain to think of something to say. And then, I got it!  
"The very thought of you," I sang softly, turning to look at her. She looked up, again confused.  
"And I forget to do," I stood up, putting my hand out to help her up.  
"Those little ordinary things," I spun her around. She giggled.  
"That everyone ought to do." I pulled her in close, swaying.  
"I'm living in a kind of daydream," Out again, spinning once more.  
"I'm happy as a king," We continued dancing.  
"And foolish though it may seem,  
To me, that's everything."

"The mere idea of you,  
The longing here for you.  
You'll never know how slow,  
The moments go, till I'm near to you.  
I see your face in every flower,  
Your eyes in stars above,  
Just the thought of you,  
The very thought of you,  
I love," I dipped her down, and kissed her. We kissed for a while.

Once she had stood up, she smiled at me.  
"I get it now," she nodded, "I love you."  
I gasped, she actually did! "I love you too!" I smiled at her. I took her hand. "Shall we go and see what the others are doing?"  
"We shall," she beamed at me, and we walked inside.

Later, as we sat in the lounge, she murmured to me, "You know, you never did answer my question."  
"Which question?"  
"Were the ideas wonderful?" she smiled at me. I smiled back.  
"To me, everything you say is wonderful," I kissed her on her nose, and she giggled.  
"You're very cute, you know," she told me. Then we kissed properly.

* * *

**That song wasn't the disney song I was talking about, that's coming later in the story.**

**So, I wrote this chapter. Then it was too short, so I made Part II, from Nya's POV. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 6, Part II - Nya's POV

I stood, half-hidden behind the wall. He hadn't noticed that I was there, he was far too busy for me. His toolbox was already on the floor, and he was scanning the shelves for the vital parts of the hacking device. After going through about half a dozen boxes, he had apparently found everything he needed, and set them down on a work bench. Then he picked up the tool box, and put that on the workbench too. I decided to make my presence known to him now, before he started working, so I wouldn't distract him.  
"Um, Jay?" I asked hesitantly. He snapped around suddenly, shocked at me being there.  
"O-oh, Hi, Ny-ya," he grinned shakily.  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disrupt you," I felt myself blush, "I'll just go," I turned to leave.  
"No!" he called out. I turned back to him. "Don't go, I, er, I need your help."  
"My help?" I was surprised, Jay didn't normally need help.  
"Yeah! I need to wire this to this," he held up two pieces of the device, "And you can hold it steady while I solder it."  
"Ok," I moved to near the table and he got out and set up the soldering iron. He dabbed it on the sponge and held it in the air, waiting for it to warm up. He smiled at me, and then realised I didn't know what to hold.  
"Oh, can you keep those two bits together, like that," he moved them together with his spare hand. I gently pushed them closer, being careful not to touch him.

After that, there was a silence while we waited. It was very uncomfortable. I don't know whether it was subconsciously or not, but Jay began humming a little. I recognised the song immediately. It was Beauty and the Beast, from the Disney film.  
"Jay, why are you humming Disney?" I asked him quietly. He looked up, startled, and blushed slightly.  
"Sorry, I was just thinking about a girl I know," he sighed.  
"Oh," I said, very, very quietly, "I see." I turned away from him, my eyes brimming with tears. He loved someone else. The little hope I had was killed. I mean, I love him, and I knew he could never love me, but I had thought, that maybe, just maybe, he might come round one day. Now, knowing this, I knew that could never happen.  
"Are you alright?" he asked me. I turned back to face him, wiping the tears away.  
"What? Yeah I'm fine!" I smiled fakely.  
"Okay, if you're sure," he didn't look convinced.

He turned back to the work, and wiped the solder already on the iron off. "You ready?" he asked me. I smiled and nodded. He held the solder wire near the join of the two pieces, which I was holding together. The solder transferred itself onto the join easily and quickly. The last bit of the join was very near to my right hand, and I tried to shift it out of the way, but it was too late. The hot metal hit my finger, burning it, not badly, but it hurt a lot.  
"Owwww!" I yelled. Jay grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to the sink.  
"Oh My God! Oh My God! I am so sorry!" he said panically and he turned the tap on cold and pushed my finger under it. The water hit my skin, and immediately eased the pain off. I relaxed. Jay went somewhere and told me to keep my finger where it was. He came back with a towel and a plaster. He took my hand and dried it, then put the plaster over where the burn was. While he was doing this he was speaking: "I am so sorry Nya! I don't know how it happened! And I was trying to avoid hitting you so much as well! I am so sorry!"  
"Jay, its ok. It doesn't really hurt now," I smiled.  
"I'm so sorry!" he muttered again as we walked back to the workbench.

Neither of us spoke again, for the rest of the time we were working. Eventually, at about 2 in the morning, we had finished. I was practically falling over with sleep. Jay laid the device down on the table, and I yawned. He turned to look at me, concern etched across his face.  
"Do you want me to, erm, carry you?" he asked nervously.  
"No," I shook my head, "I can get back myself." I yawned again, bigger than before, closing my eyes momentarily. In that moment I felt myself being picked up off the floor, and opened my eyes to see a furiously red Jay carrying me bridal style. "Put me," I tried to yell, but yawned half way through, "...down."  
"You're too tired," he replied simply. I did not protest again. He then carried me back to my bedroom, now the girls' room.  
"Night, Jay," I said once he had set me down at the door.  
"Night, Nya," He said, turning to walk down the corridor back to their room.  
"I love you," I whispered softly, once he was out of sight.

* * *

**AAAARGGH! The Cutesy romance is killing me! So, next chapter, we're gonna get some PLOT in! rather than just fluff! **

**About the songs, there are gonna be about 5 by the end. Two I know are disney, and one of those is going to be sung by Sensei Wu! I told my sister I was gonna put that song in - I tell her about a lot of this story - and she said "OMG! You have to have Sensei Wu sing it!" and I was like, "OMG! you are so right!"**

**I'm gonna hafta cram to get this ready for Christmas. I want to post the Christmas Eve one on Christmas Eve and the Christmas Day one on Christmas Day, so I'll probably have to use a lot of timeskips to get it in. But hey! The show does that too!**

**And this is so cliche! I'm going to have to change the name to 'Orphelia's Book of Ninjago Cliches'. It's ridiculous!**

**Hope you like it! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Anemone's POV

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ninjago! Really!**

**I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! It has been the bane of my existence for the last week. But here it is now, so, Enjoy!**

* * *

Next Morning, we were all standing around a map of Ninjago, on a table in the bridge. We had decided to search for the platinum weapons during the day, and stop the purple fire at night.

Jay and Nya looked very tired, I suppose they had been up very late finishing the device. Nya also looked kinda forlorn, as though she had lost something very precious to her.  
"Well," Elsie said, "I know roughly where each of the weapons is: the whip of water is in the north, the fan of air is in the east and the daggers of light are in the south. There is also a starting point for each weapon, where you can stand and if you shine a light at the right area, you should be able to see a glint of silver, and that's the weapon."  
"Ok," I said, "We're in the north now, so maybe it would be easiest to get first. Where's the starting point for it?" Elsie peered at the map.  
"Just two miles south from here!"  
"Ok, then! Let's get going!"

Half an hour later, we were climbing up a mountain, upon which was the starting point for Mesi's whip. The weather was very hot, and sunny, but also very humid. I was sweating dreadfully. I stopped to take a drink out of the water bottle strapped onto a belt at my waist. The com-link that connected all 8 of us on my wrist buzzed. I was at the front of the group, with Mesi not far behind me. I didn't know what order the others were in, but I knew Jay was bringing up the rear. I looked at my wrist; the display screen told me it was Jay.  
"Annie, Nya looks very weak from the heat, what should I do?" he sounded very worried. Frankly, I wasn't surprised, the poor girl had had two very late nights in a row.  
"Get Zane to come and cool her down," I said, absent-mindedly tucking a stray bit of hair behind my ear. Today, I had pulled it all into a high ponytail, and separated it into three sections. I had plaited the two side sections, and looped them round, hiding the ends. Then, I covered the elastic bands by wrapping the middle section around them, securing it in a bun.

We were nearly at the top now, but as we climbed, it got steeper and steeper, and hotter and hotter.  
"Almost there!" I shouted down encouragingly. I wiped the sweat off my forehead; it was swelteringly hot. The ground below was shivering and shaking, and the desert looked like water. Finally, I reached the top. "I'm here!" I called down. I looked around the level summit. It was about 5sqm, and in the centre was a stone pedestal.

I heard little grunts and sighs from where I had came up, and turned to see Mesi emerge over the side. Her red curly hair was in a frizzy mess and she had smears of dust all over her.  
"Here," I held out my hand to her to help her up.  
"Thanks," she took it gratefully. Once she had stood up, she touched her hair precariously, "I look a mess don't I?" she asked me.  
"Yes," I nodded, and she frowned slightly.  
"No, she doesn't," Kai said, coming over the edge. He folded his arms over the side, and addressed Mesi, "You look lovely, like usual."  
"Thank you," she blushed a little bit.  
"It's true!" he said, trying to get over the side, "Now, will one of you help me up?" I moved to help him, as Mesi turned away, in semi-confusion. I smiled a little to myself. She really did love him!

_Good Morning!_ I heard a voice sing in my head.  
_Hey Tash!_ I replied.  
_How're things in Matchmaking land?_  
_Good, Cole is on board, and Gina and Zane are already together._  
_That's very quick work!_  
_Well, I knew they'd be easiest to do, and we may aswell have got it out the way._  
_Anything else?_  
_Oh, everybody's agreed to help with Jay and Nya._  
_That'll be very useful, I doubted we'd get it done with just the three of us._  
_I'm gonna talk to everyone bar Kai and Mesi about getting those two together. I have a plan, but its gonna need a lot of coordination._  
_Oh, I said I'd talk to my sisters about helping! I'd better get onto that._  
_Yes, do._

While I had been talking to Tashi, the others had gathered atop the mountain. They were currently holding magnifying glasses out over the side, harnessing the sunlight to shine little spotlights out over the countryside. I went to look at the pedestal. I was sure we were missing a trick with it; it was too geometric to be natural. In the top, there was a small hole. I took out my magnifying glass. It fit perfectly inside. The whole handle went in, and when it was completely in, a silver light lit up in the forest.  
"Look! I've found it!" I shrieked excitedly.  
"Where? Where?" Gina ran up to me, shrieking even more excitedly.  
"There!" I pointed.  
"YAY!" she happy-clapped, then hugged me.  
"Gina! Calm down!" I exclaimed.  
"Sorry!" she said cheerfully, "Shall we get going?"

So, there we were, in the forest. Cole and Kai had wanted to go at the front to cut down the plants in our way, but Gina protested so strongly against it they agreed just to walk on rabbit paths. She had always been a bit of an eco-nut.

The paths were very narrow, and several times we got lost. We had to go directly east from the mountain. This time, Zane and Gina were at the front, and Gina had the compass. After we got lost the 7th time, Zane took the compass off her, and we had found the right glade in 2 minutes.

In the centre was a large pond, with a fountain that seemed to come from nowhere. Resting on the top was the platinum whip.  
"Oh great," Jay muttered, "How are we gonna get that down?"  
"I think Mesi's already working on it," Nya pointed and whispered a reply to him.

All of us were watching Mesi. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in some sort of trance. There was a very strange smile on her face. Slowly, she raised her arms and moved them about. The fountain shrank considerably. We all gasped, amazed, but the show wasn't over yet. Mesi stepped forward, inching towards the pool. There was silence, and we all held our breaths as her foot was lowered over the water. Closer, closer, closer, until finally she touched down. We all prepared ourselves for a huge splash, but no splash came. She was floating!

She put her other foot onto the water. It was miraculous! She was walking on the water! She walked across the pool, and picked up the whip. Then she turned back around and walked back over the water to us, her eyes still closed, the strange smile still on her face. As she reached the land, the smile on her face disappeared, and as she put her feet on dry land, she collapsed.

The first person by her side was Kai (surprise, surprise). He lifted her upper body, and yelled at us to get some water. I did this and poured it over her face. We watched in silence as she spluttered awake. She opened her eyes, and looked at us, confused.  
"Er, guys? Why are you staring at me?" she asked us.  
"You passed out!" Kai exclaimed. She snapped her head round at the sound of his voice. Her eyes were wide and she immediately got to her feet.  
"What? I don't remember anything. I only remember standing here, wondering how to get the whip, and then, being down here on the floor," she said, brushing dust off herself.  
"Really? You don't remember anything at all?" Gina asked, her mouth wide open.  
"No," Mesi shook her head in confusion.  
"You walked on the water!" I explained to her.  
"You lowed the level of the fountain down so you could get the whip!" that was Gina  
"You got the whip," Zane.  
"And then you walked back!" Jay.  
"Across the water again!" Nya.  
"But when you got back," Cole.  
"You collapsed!" Kai finished.  
"Really? I did that?" she looked very surprised.  
"Yeah! You were awesome!" Jay exclaimed, grinning at her. I noticed that Nya frowned a little at this, not in anger, but sadness.  
"Oh, thanks," Mesi smiled, but yawned a millisecond later, "You know, I'm very tired. I think I'll just..." she collapsed, again. Kai caught her. She snored faintly.  
"Kai, carry her," I said, turning around to the way we had come into the clearing. While we had been in the glade, storm clouds had gathered.  
"I sense that a thunderstorm will begin in the next five minutes," Zane told us, "It is important we get back to the ship before the worst begins."  
"My thoughts exactly Zane," I agreed with him, "Come on, everybody."

We walked in silence. It had been a long and tiring morning, and none of us had the energy to speak. The clouds above got thicker and thicker, and with a crack of lightning, the rain began. It was cool and refreshing on my skin, and I rejoiced in the feeling after the heat and mugginess of earlier. We all had raincoats with us, but I didn't put mine on.

"Hey Annie," I heard Cole say. I turned round and smiled at him through the rain, waiting for him to catch up with me. I was again at the front, Cole immediately behind, then Zane and Gina, then Jay and Nya, and Kai with Mesi was bringing up the rear.  
"Hey Cole," I said as he came to beside me. We began walking again."Something's gone wrong," I told him.  
He frowned, "How do you mean?"  
"Something happened, last night, that has shattered Nya."  
"Are you sure?" he asked, "Cos if its to do with Jay, that's seriously gonna jeopardise Operation Mistletoe."  
I was momentarily side-tracked, "Why Mistletoe?"  
He grinned, "Well, is December. You're not the only one to make plans."  
I grinned, Cole was useful, "Anyway, I am pretty sure it is to do with Jay."  
"Oh no!"  
"Oh yes! I'll corner her later and get it out of her," I said, confidently.  
"We'd better not tell Kai. If he gets wind that Jay's done something to hurt her, it'll be.." he slid his finger along his neck.  
"Hmm, I don't think Jay would do anything to purposely upset Nya, he loves her too much for that," I thought aloud.  
"Well, how about I talk to him too, then we can be sure."  
I grinned at him, "You know, you're getting rather good at this."  
"Thanks, I'm starting to enjoy it," he grinned back.

Gradually, as we walked, the rain began to stop. Now, it was only spitting a bit. We were nearly at where Nya had landed the Bounty earlier. We walked up a ridge, and through a small forest of no great density, that covered a path that wound round a curving valley. At the bottom of the valley, there was a almost completely flat piece of land, and that was where the Bounty was. I noticed that Cole and I had drawn a little bit ahead of the others, so at the top of the ridge, we stopped and waited for them to catch up. Zane and Gina were smiling and laughing, but Nya and Jay both had almost pained expressions on their faces. Kai looked very worried, and was carrying Mesi like she was the most important thing in the world.

Once they had caught up a bit, we continued walking. It had completely stopped raining now, though the sky was still covered in thick cloud. I shivered a little; the effects of walking in the rain had begun to take affect. A cold wind had started up, blowing against the wet cloth on my skin.  
"You alright?" Cole asked, frowning.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled weakly, "but I'm gonna have to change once we get back."  
"You're the air kunoichi! Can't you just...magic the wind away?"  
"You know it doesn't work like that," I replied, "Besides, we're nearly there now."

And so we were. As we approached the ship, we slowed a little to allow the others to catch up. We boarded first, and as soon as we did, Lloyd rushed up to us.  
"Look! Look! I can do it!" he shouted. He pressed a button, somewhere, and the training course rose out of the deck. We watched him do it, and he managed most of it, but failed at the last obstacle. He went flying across the deck, and landed on the other side. "Aw, I could do it earlier!" he exclaimed, clearly disappointed.  
"Keep trying, you'll get it eventually," Cole ruffled his hair. Lloyd folded his arms and went to sit on the steps, pouting miserably.  
"Don't worry, little dude," I went to sit next to him.  
"Easy for you to say!" he grumbled.  
"Look, how about I help you later, after I've got changed into dry clothes?" I suggested.  
"Really? You would do that?" he said excitedly.  
I shrugged, "Why not? I've got nothing else to do."  
"YAY!" he shouted, "Can you get changed quickly?"  
"Yeah."  
"Like, now," he pushed me towards the door.  
"Okay!" I chuckled, "Meet me here in 5!"

Our afternoon of training went by pretty well. At first Lloyd went through the course over and over again, and every time he did I would tell him how he could improve. After a while, he started mumbling and groaning that I didn't know how HARD it was. I then volunteered to have a go myself, and let me tell you now, it wasn't easy. But after about ten tries I was regularly completing it, and after that, we did it together. Lloyd would copy what I did, and through that, he was able to do it.

"Whoop!" I shouted, once I noticed it was about six, "High five!" He high-fived me, then looked at me anxiously.  
"Can we do it once more?" he asked.  
I smiled and shook my head, "Sorry, it's too late." It had gotten dark a couple of hours ago.  
"Aw, pleeeeeeease?" he begged.  
"No, Lloyd."  
"S'not fair," he grumbled.  
"How about we train again tomorrow?" I proposed.  
"Ok!" he immediately brightened up. I smiled at his ability to swing from mild anger to ecstatic joy in a matter of seconds.  
"Now, lets go and see what the others are doing," we walked inside.

We first went to the lounge, where Kai and Jay were playing against eachother on a game. I swear, all those boys ever seem to do is play on video games. Zane and Gina were sitting on a couch against the wall, watching them.  
"Hey guys," I said, and Lloyd ran to flop down between Kai and Jay.  
"Hi Annie!" Gina beamed at me. Ok, so she was excited because...?  
"Where are the others?" I asked. Lloyd was pestering Kai and Jay into letting him have a go.  
"Mesi is in the Med. room, she hasn't woken yet," Gina told me, "Nya went off to our room as soon as we got back, and I haven't seen her since."  
"And, unfortunately, Cole is cooking dinner," Zane said, wincing a little.  
"Why unfortunately?" I frowned.  
"His food tastes like pigswill," he replied plaintively.

I decided to go and talk to Nya now, it was as good a time as any. I knocked on the door that led to our room.  
"Go away," I heard a muffled voice mumble.  
"Nya? It's me," I said. I don't know why I thought that would make her let me in, but it worked. I heard her get up, come across to the door and unlock it. I saw why she was reluctant to let me in as soon as she opened the door. Her normally neat hair was messier than Mesi's that morning, her eyes were swollen and puffy. I looked past her and saw that her pillow was soaked.  
"What on earth happened to you?!" I asked her, quickly coming in and closing the door.  
"Nothing," she replied quietly.  
"That is not nothing," I pointed to her pillow. She sank slowly onto the bed. Then she broke into tears.

I sat next to her, and put my hand on her shoulder. I knew that I had to wait for her to cry it out, I couldn't force her to talk. After a while, she stopped sobbing so much, sat up, and looked at me.  
"It's Jay," she said. Well, never! "He's driving me mad."  
"How do you mean?" I asked, pretending to be surprised.  
"I love him too much!" she announced, standing up, "And he doesn't love me," she added sadly, sitting again.  
"Whatever gave you that idea?" I asked, genuinely surprised.  
"Last night," she hiccupped, "he was humming...er...Beauty and the Beast. I asked him why. He said that he was thinking about a girl he knew..." she started to cry again. I hugged her tightly, not speaking a word. We sat there for about 5 minutes, her sobbing her eyes out while I rocked her gently back and forth.  
"I know, I know, let it all out," I said soothingly. She stopped a bit, and looked at me.  
"Thanks," she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve.  
"Now, you go and have a nice, long, hot shower, and get yourself cleaned up for tea," I smiled at her, standing up.  
"Ok," she walked into the en-suite bathroom. I walked over to the door outside, but before I left, Nya popped her head back in the room, "You know, one day, you're going to make a brilliant mother."

After I left Nya, I went to the kitchen to update Cole on what had happened.  
"Hey Cole," I said as I entered the room.  
"Hi Annie," he looked up and smiled at me. I sat on a countertop away from where he was cooking.  
"I was just talking to Nya," I told him.  
"Hmm, and what did she say?" he asked.  
"Jay has only gone and messed the whole thing up," I moaned, "He was humming 'Beauty and the Beast' yesterday when they were working, and when she asked why, he said he was thinking about a girl he knew. And Nya, being insecure as it is, presumes that he is in love with some other girl, and now she's all depressed about it."  
"Does this smell right to you?" he waved a spoon of...whatever he was making infront of my face.  
"Cole! Were you even listening to what I said?" I hopped down from the counter, frowning, with my hands on my hips.  
"Yeah, sure. Jay, stupid. Nya, depressed," he said, rolling his eyes.  
"Hmm," I wasn't convinced he had completely concentrated, but let it slide, "Let me taste some," I pointed to the pot. He put some on the spoon and gave it to me. I swallowed hard before I tasted it. It couldn't be as bad as the others said, could it?

I was wrong. It was much, much worse.

My eyes bulged as the foul substance entered my mouth. Cole watched me anxiously, waiting for my verdict.  
"Water! Water!" I croaked out. He rushed to get a glass full. I gulped a large portion of the water into my mouth, then spat every into the sink. Then, I downed the rest of the glass. "That," I said, wiping my mouth on my sleeve, "Is the worst thing I have tasted in my life!"  
"What?" Cole looked confused. I rolled my eyes.  
"Come 'ere," I grabbed the pot by the handles at the side, and poured all the contents into the bin. Then I put the pot in the dishwasher, and got out two smaller ones. "We're going to need spaghetti, tinned tomatoes, beef mince, and an onion," I turned to him.  
"Um, we've only got frozen beef, is that ok?" he asked, still a bit confused.  
I nodded, "That's fine." We assembled the ingredients, and I began searching the drawers for a tin opener.  
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.  
"Cos, and please don't take offence by this, your cooking tastes worse than pigswill," I replied.  
"Oh," he said simply.  
"Sorry, but its the truth," I said, trying to be kind, "Now, Cole, prepare yourself for a crash course in basic cooking!"

"The trick is," I said as I stirred the pan, "to not over-complicated things." The sauce was well on its way, and the kettle was boiling for water for the pasta. We were making, if you hadn't guessed it, Spaghetti Bolognaise. "So, don't try to be ambitious, unless you have the help of someone who's made that meal before. Now, bring the kettle," he did so, and I poured it over the pasta in the pan, "I'll carry on cooking if you go and tell everyone that dinner's nearly ready." He left.

I carried on cooking. It was nearly ready now. I tasted some of the sauce; it was perfect! I got out a big dish and poured everything in. Then I continued stirring the pasta, until Cole came back.  
"Do you want to stir it?" I offered him the spoon.  
"Are you sure you trust me?" he took it cautiously.  
I smiled, "I'm just here, and it only needs a couple more minutes." He stirred, concentrating hard. I suppressed a giggle at the sight of his face. "So, every time it's your turn to cook, I'll teach you a bit more, ok? And today, you can say you did all of this."  
"Really? I can claim it was me?" he looked up at me, surprised.  
"Sure, what difference do it make to me?" I smiled. He continued stirring a bit, then stopped again.  
"Is it done now?" he asked me. I cut a bit off and ate it.  
"Just about. Take it off and put it in the other dish," I told him. I had got the second dish out while he was stirring.

"Dinner's ready!" I called into the corridor. I then went back into the kitchen and helped Cole carry through the food. We laid it on the table, as the video game troop arrived.  
"Well, it smells better than normal," Jay said cautiously.  
"I'm gonna go and get Mesi," I told Cole. He nodded.

I entered the medical room quietly. Mesi was snoring softly. I went up to her and shook her gently.  
"Hmm," she murmured.  
"Mesi? Mesi? It's time for tea," I said.  
"Hmm," she rolled over.  
"Come on," I said, turning her back over.  
"Oh, you're such a fuss-pot," she grumbled, sitting up.  
"Come on," I repeated, sighing.  
"Alright," she got up.  
"Your hair's still a mess you know," I said sourly.  
"Oh, who cares? I'm hungry, lets go," she ushered me towards the door.

"We'd better check Nya's come," I said once we were in the corridor.  
"Ok then," she replied. We made our way to our room. It was not far. I knocked on the door.  
"Nya? It's me and Mesi, we've come to get you for dinner," I called. The door opened quickly and she hopped out into the corridor. She was beaming widely, her hair was shiny and neat, and if I hadn't been there earlier, I couldn't have guessed that she had been crying at all. She was very brave, hiding her feelings and but on a face, but part of me wondered whether there was something more to it than that.  
"Come on then, what are we waiting for?" she grinned, then skipped down the corridor. Mesi turned to me and raised her eyebrow. I smiled and shrugged, then skipped after her.

We fell into the dining room laughing. The others were already being served. Nya took her place next to Kai, and I sat on the other side of her, next to Lloyd. I smiled at him, and he asked me if we were still going to train again tomorrow. I nodded and said yes. Mesi had sat down opposite Kai, in the only available place next to Sensei. Cole finished serving us and sat down.  
"Well, eat," he told us, when nobody picked up their forks. I winked at him and grabbed my fork. I twirled the spaghetti around the fork, knowing everyone was watching. Then I shovelled it into my mouth, sucking the stray strands through my teeth. Finally, I wiped off the sauce that had got onto my chin with a napkin, and swallowed.  
"Mmmmm," I smiled, "Deee-licious!"  
"Really?" Jay raised his eyebrows at me.  
"We ask because Cole does not have the best track record when it comes to cooking," Zane said.  
"Really. It's lovely!" I assured them. Cautiously, Kai tried a bit.  
"Really! Guys! It's brilliant!" he grinned.  
"Oh, I'm too hungry to care!" Mesi said after a moment of silence. Suddenly, everybody was wolfing the stuff down. Contented sounds filled the air, as we mostly ate in silence. I gave Cole a thumbs-up, and he grinned.

* * *

**I'm glad this is done! It has taken me ages!**

**The next chap. will probably be from Annie's POV again. Infact, most of the rest of the story will be in Annie or Cole's POV, unless the situation calls for it.**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
